IHRSA EUROPE UPDATE


Casting a better light • Patricia Amend • Editor • Club Business International


of T e Good Wife, the law fi rm Lockhart/ Gardner defends a known drug dealer who has several “legitimate” businesses. A murder takes place at one of those: a health club. T e victim is a young woman – a salesperson who’s pictured in a video of the sales team celebrating the fact that they’ve sold more memberships than ever. T e subsequent investigation not only delved into the murder but also revealed that the club’s general manager was selling steroids, making US$100,000 a month in the process. A preview for another show, T e


I


Mentalist, shows a woman tripping on a treadmill and falling completely off it. T e lead character, Patrick Jane, yells: “Man down!” Smiling. On a re-run of Monk, Mr Monk enters


a gym’s locker room and hesitates to sit on the bench because of his obsession with cleanliness. And he does his typical site-gag, his “OCD dance” if you will. Once he does force himself to sit down, an overweight, sweaty man who’s wrapped in a towel sits down next to him. What does the man say? “T ey never clean this place, and the equipment is always broken. And I keep paying my dues. I don’t know what they’re doing with my money.”


Social media can hurt as much as it helps – but only if we let it. Clubs need a positive media strategy


I think you see what I’m getting at. For


longer than we’d like to remember, this industry has had a slightly tarnished image. And it doesn’t help when local newspapers run stories when a club closes its doors unexpectedly. T ere are oſt en quotes from disgruntled members. Social media can also hurt as much as it


helps, when people post their issues on Yelp and other sites. T e cumulative eff ect could be disastrous – if we let it. What can you do?


Ask the experts: CV equipment ratio


What’s the industry standard for the number of aerobic pieces of equipment per member? Joan Carter, vice chair of Cybex International,


offers her views on this topic:


“While those who specialise in the management of gyms and training facilities may be searching for a magic number, finding the ideal balance between certain forms of aerobic equipment is a tricky question. “According to Steve Suchanek, Cybex


International’s director of product management, there’s no industry standard for equipment. Instead, he says the ratio of equipment per member boils down


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to one thing: What’s your business plan? For fully loaded facilities offering a broad variety of amenities, there may be less need for a large number of treadmills. “Conversely a more basic gym – a gym


that sets out in its mission statement to feature fewer amenities – may be more likely to include more treadmills, cross-trainers and strength training equipment as a result of the clientele it caters to, who are interested largely in a traditional gym workout. “Suchanek says there can be relative


ratios for equipment – from treadmills to cross-trainers to upright and recumbent bikes – based on the needs of member populations. He also notes treadmills tend to comprise 45 per cent of CV machines, with roughly 30 per cent cross-trainers and the balance made up of bikes and other pieces.


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital


’ve noticed recently how badly health clubs are portrayed in popular television shows. For example, in one episode


First of all there’s the obvious: treat


your members and employees as well as possible. Doing so is not only a good business practice but also makes you a good corporate citizen. And it will generate nothing but good word-of-mouth. Get involved in your community. Join


your local Chamber of Commerce. Attend town meetings and speak up. Create good relationships. Invite local physicians and politicians to visit your club. Publicise your good deeds. Let local


media outlets know when you’re planning a fundraiser, or working with the elderly, young people’s clubs or local schools. Invite local radio stations to co-sponsor your events and broadcast them live. Post videos of them on Facebook. Tweet what you’re doing regularly. Don’t ignore the smaller community


media outlets in your area. Weekly papers are oſt en hungry for news. If you have someone on your staff with writing experience, why not off er your local paper a regular column with fi tness, nutrition and wellness tips? Do you have a neighborhood cable TV station? Why not off er to do a half- hour community wellness show? In other words, if you don’t already have one, come up with a real strategy to create a positive message about your club and the industry. Don’t leave it to the media to tell the story.


Tell it yourself.


NEWS


Treadmills usually make up 45 per cent of CV kit “If members are asking for certain


pieces of equipment – or if there are people waiting to get on machines – then clearly an operator should re-assess its equipment portfolio.” Read more answers to this question at www.ihrsa.org/industryleader


May 2013 © Cybertrek 2013


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